Red Thread
by TsubakiHana
Summary: So some say death is the last frontier, others say its just the beginning, but what happens when its both. Follow the story of two tragic twins with nowhere to go but up. There may be pairings later.
1. Till Death Do We Part

Disclaimer: I only own my characters.

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Chapter One: Till Death Do We Part…

There I was lying in the snow bleeding out. People were running around me, frantically telling one another to call for help but I knew that I was far past their help…

Sorry, I'm getting too far ahead of myself; let me start at the beginning of this escapade. I'm going to start on the day I decided to kill myself.

* * *

The morning started out like any other boring morning in the uneventful town I lived in. Nothing spectacular ever happened here, it was so damn suffocating. Snow had started lightly falling, but by the looks of the fat flakes that were falling in my lashes it looked like there was going to be a significant amount of it by the end of the day. Without missing a beat I continued my walk school without anymore interruptions.

The school day was nothing significant, but what would one expect from an insignificant town. At the end of the day I packed everything up, ignoring the goodbyes of the students around me, and continued my walk home.

When I finally got home I shook of the snow that clung to my boots (there was a large amount had already collected). Of course there was no one to greet me, not that I was expecting that. Flipping on the kitchen light I made a bowl of ramen noodle (I absolutely loved the things), went to the bathroom to take a shower, and went to bed.

Completely uneventful

* * *

It was about three in the morning when I woke up, with the itch to just leave the placed I had called home for so long.

Putting on some clothes I made my way to the front of the house, not really caring if I made so much noise, it's not like _they_ were home.

I didn't even bother putting on a coat, or even real shoes for that matter. I just left in my snug jeans, long sleeve, and slippers. By know the snow had made its way to where my ankles were, but the cold didn't really bother me, I simply kept walking to the unknown destination I had set out to go to. Snow was still falling but at a faster pace, some of it was clinging to my wild curls, some more clinging to my clothes. In a short fifteen minutes I had reached my destination. It was a large abandoned Victorian style home at the end of my street that towered close to the abundance of woods behind it.

Making my way to the latter on the backside of the property I climbed my way to the roof and just stood there a while. Memories started hitting me like a barrage and I suddenly had the urge to cry, but of course I didn't. This was _our_ place, the place we would come to talk our worries away, the place where I first found hope. Breathing in the cool air I looked up at the sky taking in the view, and then I let everything go.

I was falling

The fall felt like an eternity, but at the same time an instant. The sheer feeling of liberation suddenly overwhelmed me in a desperate attempt to swallow me whole. From the position I was I could see the whole sky slowly fall away from me, and then too soon it ended. With a loud thump and a quick snap I hit the ground, and with those two loud sounds followed a scream.

I hadn't expected anyone to be out here on this night, sure most kids snuck into this house to do unethical or illegal things, but with the snow storm I hadn't expected it. More footsteps followed and panicked, uncertain voices followed, but it slowly started to fade out. Regret began pooling at the pit of my stomach, not for the act in and of itself, but for the things I didn't do and the things I would never get to do. Suddenly I was much colder than I was a second ago. I was leaving this world without being loved. The snow kept falling and the world kept spinning, and my last thought was…

_There are no stars in the sky_

* * *

Slowly peeling my eyes open I was greeted with a grey nothingness. There was no light and there was no darkness, just grey. Floating there for a while I was convinced that this was the place I was meant to spend eternity at. I never really put a lot of thought into what happens after people died, and honestly I didn't care.

In all honesty I died along tine ago

I was about to close my eyes to continue my drifting when the air suddenly became stagnant and the temperature dropped.

My eyes slowly made their way towards the cause of this stillness. It was a creature dressed in all white, with the face a demon, accompanied with black fangs that protruded carelessly. A head of unmanageable white hair sat on its head. Finally looking into its eyes I saw nothing but gold pits of things that have happened and things that have yet to be.

Truly a specter to fear, but only the living can fear.

"**How pitiful, a child unloved and uncared for"**, irritation rose in me from hearing that condescending tone come from a gravelly voiced demon asshole. Like I needed someone to point out how pathetic I was, someone like me had really never meant to be a part of that world.

His sudden chilling laugh brought me out of my brooding. Looking up again I was met with the same image only this time much, much closer. Looming over me like a knife ready to drop and slice my pretty little frame open.

I once again stared into the eyes of something I knew I could and would never understand. Pools of swirling gold and slits of ebony held my gaze far longer than I would have liked.

"**Maybe we can make you a little less pathetic", **a sinister tone took over his voice, **"and a little more useful"**

Before I could even process what was happening a blade was at my neck, making its way cleanly across my throat. I didn't have time to truly register the cold, stinging line across my neck. I had no time to scream, to think, to fight. As the light dimmed I was once again over come with that bitter emotion.

Regret

I was met with a completely blinding light. Sights, sounds, feeling, were all too strong for me to understand. There was a heavy cloud of pressure pushing on me, like miasma. It was dark full of a blinding hate that, in all honesty, I didn't believe existed.

There were voices beyond the hatred, voices full of pure panic. Then as quickly and aggressively as everything came, it all seemed to halt. The voices became soft, firm but soft. Voices filled with love. Like the voices of parents. The looming cloud of rage was suddenly gone and there was a beat of silence.

Then I was once again greeted with that God forsaken gravelly voice.

"**Happy Birthday"**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**a/n **so I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Sort of a prologue, sort of not…eh…

Anyways this chapter may be short, but I promise that they will progressively become longer. Please review so I know what you guys like and what I should improve on!

Thanks for reading!


	2. Reality

Chapter 2: Reality

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There were a couple of things I learned when I finally woke up. The first and foremost being that I was a baby. Like a legitimate crying, drooling, useless infant who seemed to be named Menma…and in all honestly I don't want to talk about that part.

The second thing I noticed was that I was placed in the same crib as a baby with blinding blonde hair and weird whisker marks. In all honesty he was a very cute baby, with his chubby rosy cheeks and constant little sniffles. Though the baby beside me, who is name Naruto as I later found out, had a bad habit of waking up at the most ungodly of hours wailing like he was being murdered. This in turn sent me into a sobbing frenzy of my own. The majority of the time our care takers ignored our screams, simply waiting for us to cry ourselves out. That brings me to my third and final discovery.

I was nowhere recognizable. I know me being an infant had some reasoning with that, but to be truthful I didn't need to be fully grown to understand that I was neither in America and most likely not even in my original world. The people who had contact with us, mainly our unsympathetic care takers and a strange old man spoke an unrecognizable language. Sure it sounded Japanese or maybe Chinese but the dialect and speech pattern were all wrong for those two languages. Plus there were completely foreign words, which frankly sounded like these asshats made them up.

After making these discoveries I resigned myself to the life of a pudgy, immobile, illiterate infant. It wasn't all bad though, Naruto made some of the experience bearable, but I had a sinking feeling every time the thought of that demon asshole (as I know liked to refer to him as) was brought up. He did this to me. Sure I had a small sense of regret after throwing myself of the roof of that abandoned house, but not enough to want to relive life. I was looking forward to the empty blissfulness of death. These thoughts often sent me into a brooding state that none of our wardens, not even Naruto or the old man, could bring me out of.

Slowly I was getting use to my surroundings and as the days ticked on I learned more and more about my surroundings. That is until_ it_ decided to show its ugly ass up. Yep, the night the demon asshole decided to explain to me what in the seven rings of hell was going on.

* * *

The sun had set and our care takers had taken their leave from our room. The building, which I had found to actually be something akin to an orphanage, was still and quiet. That's when _it_ decided to show up.

With a sudden chill he appeared at the foot of our crib. When I registered who it was I immediately went to scream only to find out that I couldn't. Suddenly a wave of dizziness hit me and the world slowly started to dim, leaving me with the last image of my consciousness being that assholes smug smirk.

* * *

When I opened my eyes I wasn't seeing the world from my crib, no I was seeing the world from my original height in the center of the room I had now come to call home. Snapping my head up quickly I was met face to face with the demon asshole. Feeling the feeling return to my mouth I automatically went to scream again until a clawed hand quickly came to rest in front of my mouth. With a small snap of the demons fingers, and a nauseating whirl, we found ourselves in a secluded part of some unknown woods. When the demon removed his hands the flood gates opened.

"Where am I? What did you do to me? Is this some sick game? Who do y-", with another wave of his hand my mouth was silent again.

"**Let me begin by saying that if you do not silent that insufferable contraption you call a mouth I will return your soul to that infants body with no explanation"** , was his only warning before I hesitantly nodded my head in agreement, **"good, now let me explain the situation at hand"**

"**Your assumption about being in a different real is correct" **, my eyes widened at his statement because there was no way he could have known those thoughts. With a flicker of amusement in his eyes he continued. **"Of course I would know your thoughts silly child; I'm the being who reaped you after all"**

I stilled at that. Of course this would have to be the creature in charge of my soul. He was the one who met me after death, but I guess my assumption of him being a demon wasn't too far off.

"**Now due to the decisions of the higher ups and the future of this time line you were chosen for the Reincarnation Program, meaning you were given a second chance at life at the discretion of the Heavens"**, soaking in the new information I nodded for it to continue, **"this world is actually known in your world as a manga or anime named Naruto"**

Sucking in a quick silent breath I let myself go completely still. I had heard of this thing called Naruto before, it was something _he_ was interested in. Back then I didn't really care for it, sticking to my books, but mentioning it always brought a smile to _his _face. Now I know why Naruto's name always caused a tingling sensation in the back of my mind. After my small melt down the demon (which I refused to change simply because I know knew him to be death) continued his speech.

"**Many time lines were created for this world, the most popular being the one written in your world, but the Heavens can no longer sit aside and allow the imbalance of this world linger any longer. There are souls that should not be in this world, a fate that should not be tampered with, and an order that has been greatly disturbed. That is why you were contracted to be placed in this world so that these atrocities will be righted." **

For the second time I attempted to speak

"So you or the Heavens or whatever chose my soul to be reincarnated in this world so that I, a single lowly girl with nothing special to offer, can right a cosmic wrong", the demon nodded, "okay just checking, I guess you can continue"

"**As I was saying, there are many things that have slipped by in separate and parallel time lines to this world that cannot be looked over in this one. This is where you come into play, you will work directly under me to realign fate. As Death I have an allotted number of deaths and souls that need to be accounted for and events that are need to play out, your job is to make sure the necessary ones happen and the unnecessary ones don not."**

"How am I suppose to know any of the events, I didn't get into Naruto when I was in my world, and how am I suppose to even begin to situate myself into the situations?"

"**I am in charge of you in this world; as such I will give you, what some would call, visions or snippets of future events. Not all at once mind you, we can't have you willy nilly changing things out of spite or moral duty"**, a sharp grin was sent my way, **"as for the positioning of your actual presence, I made you the sole surviving family member (sister) of the protagonist of this story, Naruto" **

Once again I was reeled back. So the chubby, bouncy, happy baby constantly next to me was not only my brother, but he was the so called 'hero' of this world? Taking a deep breath I calmly sat down on the grass and twitched. This must have indicated for the demon to continue.

"**As an outside presence you are given some special leeway, the first consideration being that you cannot die in this world. You may be heavily injured or on the brink of death, but you are under strict orders not to be allowed to die until your duty has been completed. As such you are expected to train hard so that you are not put into situations that would arouse suspicion of your survival."**, when I nodded in compliance he continued, **"The next consideration will be that you will be allowed to see newly deceased souls and the ever present wandering spirits of this world. Since you have been sent here to help me control the spiritual intake and out take of this world you will need every advantage, spiritual sight is one of them. Finally you are to act as a sort of guardian to Naruto, watch over him and nourish his spirit so that he becomes the ninja and hero he is destined to be."**

It was all so much to take in. I was sent to a spiritual world so that I can watch over an imaginary character so that he can fight, in essence, for death and the heavens. On top of that I was expected to assist the demon with his deathly duties, all while making those around me believe that I was just a harmless human. Right.

I opened my mouth to speak, but saw that the demon had made his way to the other side of the clearing. With a simple wave of his hand he beckoned me to follow him. We walked in relative silence until we arrived at his intended destination. In front of us sat a large pound filled to the brim of the reflection of the moon. Stepping closer I looked into the water.

Staring back at me was my old self

A heart shaped, pale face with a slightly up turned nose. Soulful brown eyes, with too much anger and sorrow stared back. Thin lips pressed in a straight and unmoving line rounded the face out. To frame the simply constructed face was a wild mane of black curls. This was me, the me who suffered, the me who cried, the me who killed herself.

Two fingers found their way under my chin and directed my eyes to the deep golden pits of the demon

"**This is the soul that resides in the body of that infant. You are not truly and never truly will be that young child laying there. You were chosen for this duty and not only myself but those above me intend you to complete that task."**

With a nod I accepted, not finding any other ultimatum, but I had one question lingering.

"Why me?"

"**Because that regret that pooled in your stomach gave me a reason to save you. You may think that nothing about you is special, but the Heavens have decided differently, so take this second chance and fulfill your wish."**

"What wish?"

"**To leave this world loved"**

* * *

When I opened my eyes I was back in the crib. Turning my head slightly I saw Naruto snuggling into my side. I don't know what I was expected to feel, but to be honest at this point it was all numb. I was supposed to play God with these people while also trying to relive a life I thought I was finished with. I could always kill myself again, but remembering the speech the demon gave me it seems that the Heavens already saw that little trick, that was the reason for the so called immortality.

As I listened to Naruto's soft breathing and the soft rustle of the wind outside I promised myself something. Since I was bound to this life I would become this world's most dreaded nightmare. I would take names and kick ass, I would become cold and calculated, I would take control of my surrounding, and I would take control of my fate. If that meant tearing some people down in the process so be it. If it meant doing anything to protect my charge and complete the mission so be it.

I already killed myself once; at this point I really had nothing to lose.

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A/N. So let me start out by saying that yes my oc is a female who is named Menma. Yes Menma is the alternate Naruto, but that's what I'm using as the basis in this fanfic. Menma, his sister, is a parallel to the Menma Naruto of the other world. I'll go deeper into that in later chapters. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review


	3. Revelation

Chapter 3: Revelation

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Seasons and months passed in a blur and before I could even register it our second birthday hit us like a truck. By this point in time we had both learned, to what most would consider stumbling around, what I considered walking. Naruto began talking a while back, though he still spoke in broken sentences. I on the other hand reserved my words. I didn't speak much unless need be, this in turn irritated the hell out of our caretakers.

Moving on from that I had finally caught a glimpse of myself fully awake in one of the mirrors the caretakers left in our room. I was a fairly chubby baby, much like Naruto, but not quite as fat (Naruto ate like a grown man). I also shared the characteristic whisker marks that Naruto had, but for some reason mine were not as thick or as dark as his, in truth mine simply could be overseen if not for them reflecting in the sunlight. They almost resembled scars. Instead of bright, obnoxious yellow (yes YELLOW, not gold, yellow) hair, I had equally bright and obnoxious RED hair. Not ginger, or auburn, but red. I had to admit it was a very eye catching color; it was a good choice of color when concerning my eyes. My eyes were the same pools of unbelievably clear aqua blue that Naruto had. My eyes weren't as narrow as Naruto's were, though his weren't even that narrow to begin with. My eyes were round, unbelievably so. They didn't quite fit my face and I had a suspicion that they never would, so as to not scare anyone (namely my brother) I kept them half lidded, which quite frankly made me look like a lazy sour puss all the time.

All in all I didn't hate my looks, but then again I didn't really hate my last looks either.

Today we had the _pleasure_ of having the Hokage grace us with his presence. The elderly man, who I had once grown to tolerate, turned out to be the militaristic dictator of the village where I resided. I had first learned this when the demon and I were having our education sessions. Yes, the demon felt it necessary for me to have some sore of competency and idea of the world I was charged to watch over. Every night he would come and pull my 'original' soul from my body so that he could take us into the woods and educate me on the history of this world. Of course he isn't an idiot; he hasn't given me any future information at this time, wanting me to be completely loyal to the heaven's plans first. Tch, sneaky bastard.

Anyways, when we have these sessions, usually it consists of the demon shoving a butt load of historical text down my throat. Along with the verbal knowledge I started gaining snippets of visions. Just visions' regarding the past, but still it was a milestone from where I was not but two years ago. The demon even mentioned physical training next, something about an important gift that needed to be given. Besides that everything was the same.

Now getting back to the current situation, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage of Konohagakuren had both me and Naruto seated on his lap in a very grandfatherlymanner. He even went so far as to bring us presents. A small green and red frog plushy for Naruto and a rabbit plushy for myself. Even though the man in front of me has been nothing but kind to us (even when others were not) I knew the types of things this man had done, and the things he allowed to be done. Namely the complete annihilation of our clan's country. The demon had shown me that Konoha and Uzushio had supposedly had an alliance, one that stretched back to the founding of Konoha, but in their dearest time of need Konoha allowed them to be crushed. I had sneaking suspicion that that was not the complete end of that story, but the demon never let anything on. In truth its not like it really mattered. The ambush had really only killed a third of the clan, the rest left the elemental nations. It is said that they used boats to cross the great ocean to escape any and all contact with the shinobi world, only a select few stayed behind, giving the illusion that the clan was in near extinction. So when the Uzumaki left they took the majority of their sealing scrolls along with them, in truth even the most skilled sealing master in the shinobi nations were nowhere near the caliber of an Uzumaki master. The last Uzumaki left in the elemental nations that knew any of the clans sealing techniques was my late 'mother'.

Yes the demon also mentioned that little bit to me.

Not that I actually cared, I didn't have a real mother in my last life, so I would do just fine having no mother in this life. The same could be said about my 'father'. Instead of deciding to be a good father he decided to be a good warrior. But in the end it was irrelevant because those people, even if alive, wouldn't be my true parents. I know who had truly birthed me into absolute existence and it wasn't Uzumaki Kushina or Namikaze Minato. That woman was only a surrogate for my soul and that man was only a means for my existence in this world.

But enough of that, back to the present. I knew that these presents would be useless. Within the next 24 hours they would either be destroyed or they would 'mysteriously' vanish from our possession. This was a running game with both the staff and the children of the orphanage. The year before the Third got us some new clothes. As soon as he left the caretakers took them from our rooms and used them for other children, so we were left with the same three pair of raggedy outfits. Then whenever the Third would show up and ask about them the caretakers would simply say that we had dirtied them and that they were washing as they spoke.

Complete and utter bullshit

Though I suspected that the Third didn't buy their total BS, because the next day the clothes were returned to our room and never touched again. The bullying, if you could even call it that, didn't stop there. Small toys would go missing, our sheets would be in shreds, we were given less portions at meals, or our meals would be swiped and dumped by the other children. In truth it didn't bother me one bit, but it really bothered Naruto, for some reason they targeted him worse than they did me. Every time an _accident_ would happen I could see the hope drain from his eyes a little bit, so I would do any and everything to bring it back, whether it be beating the brats up or doing something silly to get a laugh. I hate to admit it but I had grown very close to my charge in the past two years. I was his mother and father wrapped all into one, I would become anything that he needed or wanted. But I knew in the end I wasn't his real sister. Whenever he would call me 'nee-chan' I felt guilty because in truth I was just here to make sure fate ran on course, at the end of my mission I would have to leave him and anyone else I would make a connection to. I had learned something coming to this world.

When we are born we don't truly belong to ourselves anymore, we belong to the people who connect and love us. I knew looking into Naruto's eyes that I would get my wish in this world.

I would leave this life being loved

* * *

"Bai bai ji-ji!" Naruto called to the Third as he was leaving us after his brief birthday visit.

"Bye bye Naruto, Menma," he nodded towards me, "happy birthday and many wishes to you."

I simply nodded back as Naruto zealously waved goodbye until the Third was nothing but a speck in the distance.

"Naru, let's go inside before we get yelled at."

"'kay!"

As we made our way back to our room we received a bunch of sneers from the older kids.

"Look it's the demon and its servant."

"Another year they're left alive, oh joy!"

"Hope you make it to your next birthday, hahahaha!"

Naruto went to yell at them before I quickly grabbed his hand. He looked at me as I shook my head. These idiots weren't worth getting the warden's wrath on our birthday.

Once we got back to our room I noticed something was off. The window was open.

It was closed 98 percent of the time because neither I nor Naruto could actually reach the lever to open it. Only when the caretakers were feeling gracious would they open it for us, but I knew they hadn't done it today. On this day especially we were treated extra harshly. So the question still remained.

Who opened that window?

Before I could contemplate any longer Naruto drew my attention with his need for assistance on putting his pajamas on. Soon enough we were in bed drifting off to sleep when I thought I heard the most chilling sound.

I thought I heard the demon laughing

* * *

It was the middle of the night when I heard whispering. Slightly opening my eyes I saw two figures near our window. Glancing to the side I saw that Naruto was still soundly asleep (the boy could sleep through anything). Looking back to the figures it appeared that they were arguing about something. I was preparing a scream in the back of my throat when a familiar voice stopped me.

**"Brat keep your mouth shut and watch."**

So I did exactly what the demon instructed. Soon the figures conversation slightly escalated in volume to where I could hear them.

"Which brat is it? The girl or the boy?"

"I don't fucking know which brat has it!"

"Well, what are we suppose to do now dipshit?!"

"Just grab both of them, we can just kill the one that doesn't have it."

"Okay"

So the figures made their way to the bed. Quickly shutting my eyes and smoothing out my breathing I allowed them to pick both of us up and carry us out the open window.

_'What should I do demon?'_

**"Just let them take you for now, it won't be long until someone notices Konoha's precious weapon is gone."**

_'What do you mean by weapon?'_

**"You'll see soon enough"**

* * *

After what seemed to be an eternity the duo stopped in their running/jumping and stood very still for a few moments.

"It seems Konoha noticed the brats disappearance," one, I'm assuming the leader, spoke.

"What should we do?" the other frantically asked, "their ANBU will be here soon enough trying to get them back."

"We have to figure out here which one has the demon; we'll just kill the other one and be on our way."

With that they threw both Naruto and I to the ground. Finally Naruto woke up and surveyed our surroundings. I just simply kept quiet, silently wondering why the demon's been so quiet.

"Hey! Whose you two?!" Naruto yelled, finally figuring out that we weren't home and that we weren't with anyone we knew, "where we at?!"

"Shut it brat!" the leader said, taking a menacing step toward us. Naruto quickly shut his mouth after feeling the wave of killing intent. He quickly wormed his way over to me and buried his face into my side.

Looking up from Naruto I finally got a look at the people who kidnapped us. Both were male shinobi, obviously, and both had forehead protectors that were not from Konoha. If the demon's lessons served me right the symbol on theirs were from the Amegakure, Village Hidden in the Rain.

The leader was an obscenely built alpha male type. He had a broad built with muscles for miles. A set face with a mask over the majority of it, dull blonde hair, and beady eyes that would frankly make any grown man wet themselves. He wore non-descript standard shinobi clothing.

The other shinobi was gangly looking, his wide eyes looking every which way. A bean stock that twitched too much, this one had a mop of brown hair falling into his face, a lean straight nose and hardly any lip. To put it simply, neither one of these ninja really stuck out, but I suppose that was their purpose. They were infiltration ninja. All of this was really unnecessary information though because I just wanted to know one thing. Why had they kidnapped us?

It seemed that they were in search of something they claimed one of use possessed, but for the life of me I couldn't figure it out. Until I saw the demon lurking in the corner of the clearing. A grotesquely amused smirk stretched across his devilish face. The bastard was up to something and I didn't like a fucking moment of it.

The alpha stepped closer again, this time addressing us.

"Which one of you has it?" he asked, clearly thinking that we knew what he was talking about. I looked towards Naruto, noting that he was still shaking; he was in no condition to answer so I did instead.

"What are you talking about, if I may ask?" my above average intelligence and expanded vocabulary obviously threw them off a bit. No two year old should be able to speak as clearly as I could (another reason I barely spoke). Quickly regaining his sense the alpha addressed me again, this time with heated hostility.

"The Kyuuby you fucking brat, which one of you is its container?"

Letting my face slip from its neutral expression, letting my eyes fully widen I glanced at the demon, who seemed to get closer to us. I knew personally that I wasn't the container, so if it wasn't me then… Of course I had learned about the Sage of Six Paths and the Tailed Demons in the demon's history lessons, even being able to get a vision of what they all looked like, but I never suspected Naruto being the Nine Tail's jinchuriki (that was the 'official' name of a vessel of a tailed demon). It all made sense now, why everyone treated us like dirt. I had heard a couple of times people mentioning the construction to rebuild portions of the village that had been damaged from a demon attack. I just didn't know which demon it was.

In an instance visions of a woman with red hair like mine and a man with yellow hair like Naruto's went through my mind. Blinking rapidly I was able to see the alpha shinobi bring his foot down on me.

The heavy blow sent me skidding to the edge of the clearing. A small yelp was all that left my mouth as I hit a tree.

"From the look on your face I'm assuming it's you little lady," he made his way slowly over to my prone, limp body, and lifted me up by my hair, "with that quick mind and sharp tongue of yours, I can only assume its you."

Surprisingly in that moment I wasn't afraid. I had died once and I had a guarantee that I wouldn't die in my current body at this time, and pain was something I could handle. This man didn't scare me and he knew it. His face contorted into an un-amused sneer.

"You aint afraid little one?" he asked condescendingly, "we can fix that here in a minute"

All I did was open my eyes to their full capacity and stare the man down directly in the eyes, making a haunting voice of my own.

**_"Only the living know what fear is"_**

The demons voice overlapping with mine was enough to shock the shinobi into dropping me. Before he could say anything though we heard a shrill scream come from across the clearing. Looking over I found exactly how that scream came about.

The gangly shinobi was cowering away from my glowing brother. Naruto was enveloped in a red glow, his eyes going orange and his whisker becoming elongated. It was the Nine Tails.

"DON'T TOUCH NEE-CHAN!" was all he was able to shout before ninja dressed in black with porcelain masked dropped into the clearing.

ANBU came to retrieve Konoha's weapon. Glancing at the demon one last time before I let unconsciousness take me, I saw that he was smiling, fangs and all.

When I woke up the bastard would have some answering to do!

* * *

A/N- So I hope you enjoy this chapter, its kind of boring but I promise it will get more exciting as the story progresses, yes I meant to have Naruto sound uneducated, he's two, that's why Menma's clear and constructed speech pattern is baffling. Suggestions and kind critiques are encouraged. Thank you and please review!


	4. Perception

Chapter 4: Perception

* * *

When my eyes finally opened the first thing I noticed was that I was not in my host body ( as I have come to refer to it). Another thing I noticed was that I was in a barren, sterile looking white room. The last thing I noticed was that my host body was lying on a bed with a multitude of tubes and wires perturbing from my body. I was in a hospital from the looks of it. In the bed next to mine Naruto was sleeping soundly without a care in the world, and more importantly without any tubes or monitoring machines attached to him. That was a great relief. Glancing out the window it would appear that the sun was setting giving me an estimation on how long I had been out. A day, at the most a week, that's how long my spirit could remain out of my body for a prolonged period.

Suddenly I felt a chill down my spine. That could only mean one thing. Turning around I found myself staring into a familiar pair of gold pools.

It was the demon

Instantly I felt irritation rise in me, I opened my mouth to give the demon a piece of my mind, but he beat me to the punch.

"**It was necessary"**

That was all he said and for some reason it sedated me. Sure the demon has been a complete and utter asshat to me since our first meeting, but everything he has done and instructed me to do have never not benefitted me in some way. In return I simply eyed him waiting for an elaboration on his motives.

"**I wanted you to experience firsthand how this world works. I wanted to show you that there is rarely any remorse for killing, including infants. I want you to see what you will be getting yourself into and how to protect yourself and the equally annoying brat over there."**

He paused in his little speech to glance over at Naruto, and for a split second I could have sworn I had seen hope.

Suddenly my previous doubts surfaced and before I could control myself I opened my mouth and asked a question that had been burning my tongue for a while now.

"Why did you or the Heaven's really choose me?' I looked deep into his eyes to make sure that he knew I was serious, "you say its because I was filled with regret and because I was pitiful, but I know there must have been others just like me who have died the exact same way and they aren't here. So ill ask again, why me?"

"**Do you honestly believe you were the first soul we tried to recruit to this world to set it on track?" **the bastard laughed again, **"that's either very naïve of you or very vain."**

"**We had tried others, you remember that I told you this was another timeline of this story, there have been countless other timelines where we have tried to intervene or where we have sat by and let humans be humans and savagely tear this world to shreds. The reason you are our last resort is for two reasons. The first being that this timeline that we are currently in is the original timeline of the 'Naruto' world. All the others were branch worlds stemmed from this one. The second being that there is something that is truly special about your case. As I have said we tried others from multiple worlds, but one thing remained with all of them, they couldn't handle this world, they longed for their old worlds so much that they lost sight of the world right in front of them and failed their missions. You on the other hand had not literal ties to your old world, no friends or family. No attachments that would distract from the mission at hand. Plus the fact that this dog eat dog world wouldn't scare you off so easily, because in reality you aren't a stranger to pain and evil, are you?"**

An all too familiar hollowness grasped my heart. And for a second I reflected on my past, and you know what the scary part was?

The hollowness just grew deeper

"**Humans are selfish and greedy only ever wanting what they cannot have. As I have said before, this is your chance to redeem yourself. You may live the life that you were deprived of in your last, but make no mistake you are still here to do the bidding of the Heavens. You are here as an outside force meant to be the hand of fate. Never forget that."**

He and the Heaven's were fighting for a new future for all these people. One meant for happiness and joy, not one of sorrow and destitute, and I was the means of achieving that. I had thought that this was only a game for higher beings with too much time on their hand, but maybe, just maybe, I was wrong. All at once it seemed that this demon was more human than I had given him credit for.

Then that damned smirk appeared again

'Maybe he isn't so human after all…'

"**For being such a loyal helper I'll give you a reward," **he slowly made his way towards me **"Ill give you two visions, one of the past and one of the future to come"**

Once again I was struck with the thought that 'demon' really didn't suit him

"Before you do that what do they call you in this world?"

His smirk just widened

"**Shinigami"**

Then the world, once again, faded to black.

* * *

I was surrounded by nothingness, then in an instance the visions hit me.

There was the red haired woman and yellow haired man

Their first meeting

When he saved her

The first time they said 'I love you'

When they got married

When he became hokage

When she gave birth to me and Naruto, she was holding us so close

When he fought a masked man and the nine tails

When they died

All at once I knew who they were. They were Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, my mother and father. It was strange looking at them like this, almost as though I was watching a movie flash before my eyes. Somehow this way, even though I was seeing them clearly, they still weren't real in my mind. In the end they were still some characters from a show and story I never knew, and somehow that made me even sadder. Another flash entered my vision.

It was red, there was so much red. The moon and sun were red and the sky was red and the _people _were red!

They were all so still and quiet. There weren't any screams or any crying. There was no joy or sorrow. There wasn't even hate or love. It was all just so still and quiet. There was nothing here. The voices and the sounds were just all GONE. In the stillness there was no war, but there was no peace. Ii knew in the corner of my mind I was seeing what was going to happen. This was the future. This was _oblivion_

There was no death or life.

There was only red

And there was only _**HER**_

And there was only those eyes

And suddenly there was only my screams

* * *

Every inch of my being felt

I didn't know what the feeling was, but it was just there. Weighing on my chest like a heavy stone. My soul was being stretched to its very core. My mind was being tore to shreds. Through the fog of pain I could hear people yelling and more people grabbing me, but it didn't matter because everything just fely too real. My heart felt it all at once; pain, sorrow, happiness, lust, love, hate, loathing. The list just kept going on until in an instance, I felt nothing. That was the scariest of all the things I felt.

I felt nothing

Then I knew nothing

And there WAS nothing

* * *

(OTHER)

The group of medics had finally been able to quite the little red haired girl down. The enormous spike in chakra had truly terrified them, but now that it had passed the girl was once again asleep. Fortunately Uzumaki Naruto was moved before the girl broke out in agonizing screams. Still this incident didn't help the head medic in charge of the girl's care. He had wanted to wait until a later time to have this talk with the Third but matters were pushed to the forefront.

"What is the meaning of all this panic?!," turning the medic was met with the very man he needed to see.

"Lord Hokage, there was an incident with Uzumaki Menma's chakra, but it has been taken care of," was the medics quick reply.

"What 'incident'?"

"I believe it would be best if we took this conversation to a more…private area Lord Third," with a nod the Hokage led the medic back to his tower where his ANBU secured his office with security and privacy seals. Once that was done the Hokage nodded for the medic to proceed with his explination. With a deep breath the medic began.

"Uzumaki Menma's chakra is especially raw, its essence is almost like a separate being. It reminds me almost of nature chakra. On top of this potency her chakra reserves are far to advanced of those of a mere two year old, if I had to estimate the amount I would say at the very least a chunnin level."

The Third's eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed, so far this situation was not boding well.

"On top of all of this her spiritual chakra reserve severely outweighs her physical reserves, by an unimaginable standard. Finally," the medic sighed, sliding a hand to cover his eyes, "her chakra coils are distorted, only siphoning certain portions of her chakra to certain parts of her body. In conclusion and to put it simply, this girl is a miracle child to have survived this."

All the Third could do was sink lower into his chair, a deep pit of hopelessness blooming.

"But there may be some good news," the Third's head snapped up, his eyes urging for the medic to continue, "she's past the worst of her condition. I don't believe we will have to worry about her chakra trying to consume her again. Concerning her likely hood to becoming a ninja, it would seem that it is possible. Her reserves will most likely stop growing by her fifth birthday, which will only leave the need for her body and her coils to grow into her reserves. She will never be able to perform large scale nature based ninjutsu and genjutsu is most definitely out of the picture for her, but if nurtured properly her chakra control will be nearly immaculate. She may have a bright future in medical ninjutsu, or she may take up her namesake and become a new sealing master, but mind you Lord Third, this is only a guestimation of what may happen in the future."

The Third Hokage let out a deep breath he was not aware that he had been holding. The girl was going to be fine, for all intents and purposes, and she may have a bright future as a ninja after all.

All this time he had been worrying about the wrong twin. He had thought that Naruto was going to be the bigger of his problems

Boy was he wrong.

* * *

A/N Sorry this chapter is a little shorter, I just kind of used it as a filler page for information. So here we find out whats actually wrong with Menma's body. I didn't want to make her very OP with her having her certain abilities due to her unique circumstances, I sort of handicapped her. Much like Lee, her coils affect the stability of her chakra network, since they are deformed her chakra had to find new ways of channeling itself, but it does have its perks (you'll see that later). This all happened due to the fact that a fully developed and foreign soul was forced into the body of an infant from a different world. This also goes hand in hand why her _spiritual_ reserves are so much larger and why her chakra reserves are so much larger as well, as for why it is so raw and potent, that will also be explained later.

In the next chapter there will be a sort of time skip and more about Menma's conditions and abilities will be explained.

Please read and review! Thanks!


	5. Independence

Chapter 5: Independence

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Three years have passed since the day Shinigami decided to give me my oh so appreciated 'reward'. In contrast to my first two years in this world, the last three years have been interminable and tedious. Constantly having to deal with out care takers silent torture and the onslaught bullying of the lesser being I was suppose to call peers, and these attacks only increased more and more with Naruto's and I's age. Soon it wasn't just the small world that was the orphanage. It was the village and it occupants.

Once the orphanage had a tour of the Academy, and the looks we received were the opposite of inviting and encouraging. Villager felt the need to spit at us when we passed, or rather should I say they spat at Naruto. For some odd reason not many people noticed my presence, only those who I interacted with on a daily basis, namely the ignorant masses I lived with at the orphanage.

Since we were now five we, all the orphans, were eligible to enroll into the Academy on the tax payer's dime. I suppose it didn't really matter because in the end they got obedient soldier who would throw themselves down for the benevolent ruler who so generously provided them with food, shelter and a future, but what they didn't realize was that that was exactly the point. None of our 'luxuries' were free, we were strongly encouraged to become shinobi to 'protect' out lovely village, which really translated to paying our debt to the Hokage that didn't allow his council to throw every last one of us out of the village to fend for ourselves. Nothing in life was free, let alone a chance at a future. No, that price was a heavy one to pay. They were only obligated to keep Naruto because of his tenant and me because of guilt and the potential of my nearly 'extinct' Uzumaki genes.

This whole explanation brings me to the fact that we were now in the Hokage's office eating sweets while we waited for the reason we were brought here. As far as I knew Naruto hadn't performed any drastic pranks in the past two weeks so that couldn't be it, especially after the scolding the Third gave us after we graffitied a store owned by an asshole that chased us out and down the street with a kunai for 10 minutes.

"So what do you want jiji?" Naruto began as he was shoveling candy into his mouth at a break neck speed, " I swear we didn't trip Hasegawa-san, dattebayo! She fell on her own!"

Hasegawa Chieko was the owner or Konoha's only orphanage. We _affectionately _called her the warden. It was truly fitting for the prison we were forced to live in.

"No no, it has nothing to do with that, though we may have a conversation about this 'accident' at a later date " the Hokage just gave us a quick stern look before continuing, " I asked you both here to see what your thoughts are on becoming a shinobi"

Ah. There it was. The million dollar question.

"Totally! I'm going to be the greatest ninja in the whole village! I'm going to be Hokage! Dattebayo!" naruto looked down, something sad and unsure crept into his eyes, "That way everyone in the village will finally recognize me!"

The Hokage simply let the brim of his obscenely large hat cover his eyes. The bastard knew what he did to us, he knew the way he handled the situation only ever caused us harm. It was all his fault, and so were the tragedies that were meant to come. It was all of the Hokages faults, because of their selfish agendas this world would pay dearly.

Utterly disgusting

Quickly bouncing back from the edge of despair, Naruto jumped into the 'epic' tale of how he chased a cat away from his poor 'damsel in distress' sister who was cornered by the beast. In reality I just wanted to get a closer look at the infamous Tora, and let me tell you that thing is the farthest thing away from intimidating I had ever seen. All the cat did was rub itself on my leg before looking up at me with those enormous eyes just begging me to pick her up, but you know the old saying.

Evil recognizes evil.

I suppose an hour passed before Hasegawa-san showed up to remind the Hokage that it was time for our dinner. Reluctantly we made our way out of his office until he called out to me.

"One moment please Menma-chan I have to ask you something real quick"

I simply looked from the Hokage to Naruto and gave him a reassuring nod for him to go ahead without me.

"Yes Hokage-sama?"

"You never answered my question"

"Which one Hokage-sama?"

"The one concerning your future as a shinobi. You never gave me your answer on whether or not you would like to become one."

Letting my eye lids close even further, I knew that my eyes said it all. The icy sapphire was normally unforgiving, but when I let my true emotions show through the blank uncaring façade I had grown accustomed to, they were severely dangerous. I truly did not have the patience nor the time to be playing these mind games with our dear leader.

"I didn't think my answer was necessary"

"Now why would you think that?" his frown deepened.

"Because I have no real choice, now do I?" I honestly didn't care if he knew about my intelligence, he really couldn't touch me, or more accurately his guilt wouldn't allow him to touch me. He still blamed himself for the death of my would be mother and father and that made a sort of blind spot when it came to me and my twin. I didn't fear this old man, or any of his shady tricks, not when I knew I had him wrapped around my little finger.

"There is always a choice," was his stern reply

"Not when you live in this world, from the moment we became orphans you already had our acceptance forms signed to enter the Academy," it was time to end this stupid little conversation, "I mean what's more convenient then a whole building of disposable children that would lay down their lives in an instance for this village. I'll be joining the rest of the orphans next week at the Academy, now if you'll excuse me I must make my way back to the orphanage before dark."

With a shocked expression still plastered on his face the Hokage simply gave a nod and I was out the door heading for my 'home' that rested on the other side of the village.

* * *

(OTHER)

The girl was very terrifying when she wanted to be and extremely intelligent at that. The Hokage had no worries of her future as a ninja, not with a head like that on her shoulders. What concerned him more was her perceptiveness. It was true, from the time of their parent's death he had the one track goal of continuing their dream. He was going to make Minato's children legends, but before that, came the necessity of them needing to know how to defend themselves. Once he told them of their lineage, word would get out and their parents' enemies would be after both children, not that they didn't already have large targets on their backs as it was.

The Third sighed

He really was getting too old for this

* * *

A week passed uneventfully and we were greeted with the morning of our first day at the Academy. Hearing the other brats groan while getting up I rolled over in bed to get the dunce I call a brother up. Yes, we still shared a bed, the warden did not see it fit enough to waist her funds getting a separate bed for siblings, demon siblings at that. Oh well.

Turning over I was met with the euphoric drooling face of Naruto. Bringing my hand up and letting it fall on his cheek, he shot up in an instance when my hand made a substantial about of contact with him.

"NEE-CHAN! Why did you hit me, dattebayo!?" he screamed. Simply giving him my uninterested bland stare I got up and started dressing. Luckily the Hokage had given the warden extra funds to buy every child joining the Academy a new outfit, including new sandals. I wasn't a fan of the standard shinobi sandals. To be honest they felt weird and exposed, though they were comfortable, so I made it ADAMANTLY clear to the warden not to get me them. Lucky for her, she listened and instead she got me hard bottomed black flats, like the kind people used in kung-fu movies. On top of that she got me a simple blue tunic with black spandex shorts. Over all I was pleased with my new outfit.

Naruto received white shirt with the signature Uzumaki swirl on the front and a pair of black shorts. With this whole outfit came the standard navy blue shinobi sandals.

Once we were dressed we headed down stairs to receive our bland oatmeal and slightly rotten fruit. Then by the time we were finished it was time to go to the Academy. One of the caretakers was suppose to hand out lunch to all the children, but once they reached me and Naruto she had something different in mind.

"We're all out of bentos, it looks like you two will just have to not eat today," was all the bitch said before she turned to walk away, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. In that very instance all I saw was red. Out of nowhere I grabbed the hem of her blouse and tugged with all the strength I had in this small body and toppled the bitch over. Once she was down I went for the face.

I was straddling her chest and started lashing out with my semi sharp nail, leaving red lines strewn across her once smug face. In my fit of rage I couldn't really hear anything, not even the piece of trash's screams, until I heard him.

"Nee-chan please stop! Please! You're going to kill her!" that's when my conscience finally came back to the real world. Looking down I saw what I had done. The girl's neck and face were covered with my nail marks. Looking at how deep they were I knew some of them would most definitely scar. Tears were streaming down her face, making small rivers of blood. Bruises started appearing on her neck and chest. But all I could do was look at my hands; they were covered in her blood and her flesh was under my nails.

I heard sniffling in the corner and that's when I decided to look up

All the children were scattered to any wall that was the furthest from me. Some were crying while others looked like they soiled themselves. But the one that really stuck out to me was Naruto's face. He had this look like he couldn't really see me, like he was staring into an abyss.

Like he was staring at a monster

That's when the warden slammed the front door open with two ANBU guards and pointed her wrinkly finger at me.

"There! Look at what that monster did!" she just kept screaming looking franticly back and forth, "Take it away! It can't stay here any longer! Take it to the Hokage!"

And that's exactly what they did

They grabbed me and Naruto and quickly darted off to the Hokage's tower. Once we arrived the ANBU put me in the Third's office and took Naruto somewhere else. I was going to protest but the look on Naruto's face stopped me. Half of it was buried in the ANBU's shirt, but the part I could see looked terrified. So I simply looked down at my bloodied hand and let them go.

It was about thirty minutes later when the Hokage entered his office. He simply gave me an appraising look before he sighed and lit his pipe. A few moments of awkward silence filled the air until he started speaking.

"Do you realize what you have done?" it wasn't his grandfatherly voice hat he normally used with Naruto and was his Hokage voice. "Do you realize what you have done to that young lady?"

My head snapped up and my eyes narrowed. I could practically feel the hidden ANBU stiffen, as if ready to take me down.

"Do you know what _they_ have done?!" my anger slowly bubbling again, "Of course you must know how they treat us! Like animals or criminals. I don't regret what I did to that idiotic girl. Let that be a warning to your oh so precious citizens! I won't tolerate this abuse any more by those ingrates!"

"Even if that means scaring Naruto?"

I went rigid at that. The old man was looking at me with something akin to pity. To hell with his pathetic pity! But he had a point. That look Naruto gave me still sent a wave of nausea through me. Naruto had become my world, he was literally the reason for my existence, and if he hated me then Shinigami might as well reap me and send my ass to hell. The old man must have felt my uneasiness because he came to my side and laid his hand on my head.

"Don't worry, Naruto is just in shock. I don't believe there is anything that could make your brother love any less then what he has come to love you as. His protective and caring sister, but you must understand what you have done. You have scarred a girl for the rest of her life, yes the medics were able to get to her in enough time that there wasn't too much damage, but she still has scars on her face." he sighed before he continued, "And now I have villagers demanding your execution. Even some officials are worried."

I simply looked at him with my eyes that were still too large for my face. Really looking at him.

"So are you going to kill me? Are you going to put down one of the demon twins of Konoha?"

Somehow his eyes became sadder and he brought me into an awkward, stiff embrace.

"No I will not be signing your death warrant today."

All at once the tension left me and I leaned into his embrace. Now that this hurtle was passed all I had to do was explain myself to Naruto and hope that he forgave me.

"But I can no longer allow the two of you reside in the orphanage, so starting tonight you will be staying in your own apartment."

My head snapped up and I looked deep into his eyes to make sure he was not kidding. As far as I could see he was not bluffing. Me and Naruto would be getting our own place, away from the wretched prison.

"It will be completely furnished and the portion of your orphan fund will go directly to the two of you as a allowance. You are to buy food and clothes with that," looking over and ANBU appeared behind us, "Dog will be the once to escort you to your new home."

Slowly turning around I was met with a porcelain mask in the shape of a dog. Silver, gravity defying hair sprung up from behind. It was clearly a young man, no older than his late teen. To be that age and to have done what ANBU are trained to do, now I was the one feeling sorry. But that feeling didn't last long as the door opened and Naruto was the once who came through. The air was heavy and my breath was coming in in short gaps. I was nervous, what if he hated me? What if he never wanted to see me again? I don't think I could handle that.

That's when he threw himself at me in a sobbing mess

"N-n-nee-chan, I w-was so scared," his heaving sobs were muted by my shirt, "I'm so sorry I acted like I was scared! I can never not like nee-chan, your my only nee-chan, d-dattebayo! You're the only nee-chan I want!" his grip was so strong and his head was in the crook of my neck, I couldn't help but to cling to him as well. My eyes became sort of misty, but I blinked them away before (hopefully) anyone in the room could see.

"I only want Naru too, you're my only cute otouto!" the Third merely coughed in his hand and signaled Dog to grab us. In an instance we were out of the tower and heading in the direction opposite of the orphanage. In no time it seemed we arrived at our destination. The apartment building was in one of the slummier sides of town and frankly looked like it was falling apart, but to me it looked like heaven. Dog brought us to apartment 307, unlocked the door, handed us both a key, nodded and disappeared and a plume of smoke. Naruto and I grinned before we ran into our new apartment. It was spacious for an apartment. Two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living area. The first thing I did was go to the bathroom and wash off the blood from my hands and small specks that got on my face. Then I noticed that both rooms had a small bed inside, and I didn't like that at all. So with the help of Naruto and some grueling effort we got my bed in what was supposed to be Naruto's room. Setting them side by side we made one large bed, or at least large enough for us.

It was only one o'clock in the afternoon, and it was supposed to be our first day at the Academy, but I think that could wait for tomorrow. Without further instruction we both got into bed and held each other under the cover. It had turned out a good day and I let out a sigh of contentment.

So why did I have this pooling guilt?

* * *

A/N Okay so here we see the breaking point for Menma. Naruto to me has always been a character of words, but Menma is a character of little words and full action. We see the ruthlessness that is Menma's personality, from the beginning she has stated that all she cared about was Naruto, and that is show with how little she regrets, but even though she is ruthless, she's only human and that seen with the guit in the end. In the next chapter we will finally see the rookie 9! Yay!

Please read and review. Kind critique is always welcomed!

Baibai!


	6. Meetings and Greetings

Chapter 6: Meetings and Greetings

* * *

I was woken up by the molten hot celestial being that had come by the name of sun. A little dramatic of a description, but I was dead tired and I knew what today would be. It was our REAL first day of school. Not only that but I had a horrible time sleeping the previous night. The visions of the impending future still haunting me, no matter how many times I tried pushing them out of my mind, and somehow I know that bastard Shinigami had something to do with it.

Rolling over I was surprised not to see Naruto's goofy face lost in dream land. Bolting up I automatically listened to the apartment. Hearing a crash in the area of the kitchen I let a breath out. No one would be that loud this early in the morning except for Naruto.

Picking myself up and throwing on my standard clothes I brushed both my hair and teeth and headed to the increasingly noisy kitchen. There I found exactly what I was expecting. Naruto had made a mess of our new and fairly empty kitchen, how? I will never know. All he had to do was heat some water in the tea pot given to us and pour the damn water into his precious cup of ramen.

That simple

Instead I have a half charred wall and utensils thrown about. Giving the kitchen a quick look around I walked right past a content slurping Naruto and headed for the fridge. Opening it up I was met with a full refrigerator. Closing it and quickly heading to the cupboards I found more food in there. Snapping my head around I gave my brother a slightly wide eye and sky high eyebrow look.

"dbajsjdfba;jsdbga" was all the gibberish I received from said boy. Giving him a dead half lid stare he giggled sheepishly and actually SWALLOWED his food before answering this time.

"Those ANBU guys with the mask came with food and kitchen stuff, and stuff for the other room," was all the reply I seemed to get out of the boy before he resumed stuffing his face with more sodium filled noodles. Wanting to confirm my suspicions I made my way to out small living area. There I found a small blue couch, a rocking chair and a small older looking TV set on a shaggy wooden table. It wasn't really much, but it would do for now.

Glancing at the clock that hung on one of the further walls I noticed that it was already 8 o'clock. Quickly making my way over to Naruto I grabbed the back of his shirt, grabbed the key off the small table near the entrance, we threw our shoes on and we were off to school. Even running down the street somehow Naruto managed to finish his ramen and dispose of the garbage.

* * *

Seeing how the Academy started at 8 o'clock I knew already we were going to be late, coupled with the whole fiasco that happened yesterday (trying desperately to keep my growing guilt at bay) I had a feeling that the teacher was not going to like us, but in all honesty the way were greeted was a bit much. Yeah, I get that we are the hated demon twins, or whatever the dumbass villagers decided to call us, but screaming at the top of one's lungs just made an ass out of said person.

Said person happened to be our extremely cranky teacher

With the youthful glow (sarcasm) of a young maiden (sarcasm) and the charisma of any well to do educator (sarcasm) it was hard to dislike my new instructor (LIE).

No but seriously a crabby plain looking, middle aged lady or I guess ex-kunoichi literally set herself ablaze when her eyes landed on Naruto and me. Poor Naru was so scared he made his way behind me with a very indiscreet squeak.

"So very nice of you two to finally join us! First you have the gall to not even show up to the first day, Hokage-sama's excuse or not and now you show up late to the second day?! What? Is the Academy too much for your hectic schedule? If you're going to treat your education with such a lackadaisical attitude then there is no point for you to become shinobi!" taking in a deep breath her breathing resumed. All I could do was just stare at her with a deadpan stare. Like I said earlier, completely unnecessary. Naruto on the other hand was shaking like a freaking leaf.

Once she gauged our reactions she simply gave a huff and continued

"Since you're here I suppose all you can do is introduce yourselves and take a seat," with that she slightly moved aside giving us an irritated glance that I guess was supposed to mean that we introduce ourselves.

I assume this is when Naruto got some of his bravado wind, because he made his way in front of me and puffed his little chest out.

"M-my name is U-uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to become Hokage someday, dattebayo!" somewhere in that speech his hands made their way to his hip and his chest got a little bigger. He looked like a complete dork.

A beat of silence followed before the roar of laughter burst from the mouths of our idiotic peers. At first my eyes narrowed, but looking quickly at Naruto's deflating chest I let my eyes soften and let the worry I felt show slightly on my face, but apparently I had nothing to worry about because a pure aura of determination took over Naruto. Making his way to the nearest desk (which just so happened to be in front of a lavender haired and milky eyed girl who _hadn't _been laughing) he slammed his hand down and began ranting as kids threw insult after insult at him. Eventually the teacher intervened and told everyone to shut the hell up (no lie), once the class got quiet she pointed another irritated glance at me to continue. Turning my very uninterested look to the wall in the back I introduced myself.

"Uzumaki Menma, I don't play nice and I bite…really hard," again another beat of silence followed, but this time no one laugh. That's when I heard it.

"And apparently you claw hard too," someone muttered, cutting a sharpened gaze at the perpetrator I recognized it to be one of the many young boys that bullied Naruto and I at the orphanage.

"What was that brat?" I ground out. The boy quickly snapped his head up to return my glare, but not with nearly the amount of killing intent I was putting into mine. He was actually quite a cute little boy in retrospect. Soft blue hair, wide lavender eyes set on a pudgy tan face.

"You heard me you monster! Because of you Ami-san has a big mark going from her cheek to her nose! She was so nice before and now she's only sad and it's all your fault for being born a monster!" his chair skid back as he leapt up to point his accusing finger at me.

My eyes tightened as well as my hands. I wanted to tell him she deserved it, that they all deserved a punishment for how they treated us, but the words got stuck in my throat and the increasing, unbearable guilt got stuck in my stomach.

Our sensei must have sensed something was about to go down because she choose that moment to actually act like she was working.

"Alright enough, the two of you make your way to your seats in the back," she looked at the boy next, "Kai sit your ass down class is starting.

So without looking I grabbed Naruto and made our way to our desk. Sitting down I noticed no one sat by us and made no effort to look at my surrounding classmates. I simply sat Naruto beside me and put my head on my desk and let my mind drift. It's not like it mattered.

I already knew all this shit

* * *

Through the thick haze of an afternoon nap I felt a nudge. Cracking m slightly crusted eyes I was met with the wide eye, bright smile, face that was Naruto.

"Nee-chan its lunch time!" his continuous tugging got me slouching out of the chair, and soon we made our way to the courtyard outside. All the Academy kids were out there either eating or playing ninja. Seeing how we didn't have a lunch I persuaded Naruto to come with me to get some food off campus.

Each store we even glanced at earned us either a full-of-pure-hate glare or a yell from whoever owned the place. We were near the end of our rope we saw it. Well, more like smelled it.

It smelled amazing, even I have to admit it, but it was Naruto who just had to know what it was. Wildly glancing around he sniffed, and sniffed until we found ourselves outside of a small stall that read Ichiraku's Ramen.

Blowing caution to the wind Naruto ran right in. I was about to protest when my own stomach let out a dissatisfied groan, so with hesitation I entered the little stand. Squinting my eyes even further than their normal half liddedness I was met with the sight of an older man with a pleasant smile.

"Now what can I do for two little rascals like you?" there was no maliciousness in his words, only a quiet sense of mirth at our presence.

No scream and no glare was enough incentive for Naruto to plop himself on one of the four stools, hungrily glancing at the menu set in front of him. Taking his lead as the affirmative I jumped on the stool next to him and glanced at my menu as well. Reading the menu was a bit difficult, seeing as the orphanage only taught us the very basics, but I got enough to order.

"Neh neh, look at all the yummy ramens nee-chan!" he said as he shook my shoulder, "I want to eat them all! Dattebayo!"

"Don't even think about it, baka!" I only spared a small glare, "we only have that money that the Third gave us the other day, we have to make it last, so only one bowl"

"Awwwwwwwww, your no fun nee-chan!" ignoring his whinning my eyes turned to the back door that just opened.

A girl, in her early teens somewhere came through said door with a few boxes occupying her hands.

"Tou-chan, I'm back!" that's when she spotted us seated at the bar top. The smile that was on her face not a few seconds ago was quickly gone…and so was my appetite. She glanced at her father, giving him a look that simply read confusion. Her father (who I'm assuming was the chef) gave her a small firm look before returning to his gentle smile.

"I'll take those boxes to the cellar," lifting the boxes from her hands he turned to leave, "Ayame, would you take the order of these two rascals?"

With that he left us in complete awkward silence, well at least me and Ayame. Naruto on the other hand was still going over the menu with rising enthusiasm. Honestly, drool was pouring from his mouth, literally, and it as utterly disgusting. I have no idea which part of this scene Ayame found amusing, me and my scrunched up disgusted face or Naruto's idiotic grin and dribble, but the next minute she was giggling into her hand. Her laugh was actually a very nice sound, like the sound of wind chimes. This seemed to finally get Naruto to look up from his menu. His ogling and her laughter gave me time to asses her.

She was a pretty young girl, long brown hair with simple side bangs that framed her small face. Big deep brown eyes that no longer held confused apprehension. In reality she seemed like a nice young lady.

"Hahaha, what can I get you two?" flashing us a smile eerily similar to her father's.

"Ooh oh! I'm gonna get the miso ramen! Dattebayo!" Naruto said with an air of satisfaction and finality. I couldn't help cracking a smile for the big goof, he took his meals way too seriously.

"I'll have the salt ramen," with that she nodded in confirmation and began preparing for our ramen. Naruto watched the whole process so enthusiastically, it was really adorable. Soon enough the chef came back, with his smile still intact.

"Neh? Old man ramen maker, what your name?" Naruto suddenly busted out, "my names Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be Hokage someday, dattebayo!"

This declaration was followed by the bemused chuckle of the ramen chef. My cheeks slightly heated up, but I didn't let my ever present half lidded, monochrome facade fall. My God! The minute we have someone show us an ounce of kindness, Naruto has to go and not only be rude but also loud.

Baka

"What an honor, meeting a future Hokage!" there was no condescending nature to his words, "Well Naruto-kun my name is Teuchi, welcome to my humble restaurant."

With that he gave a slight bow towards us. Quickly slamming my hand on the top of Naruto's head, I forced his face downwards in a bow as I mimicked the motion.

"The pleasure is ours Teuchi-san and Ayame-san, thank you for allowing our patronage."

"My, what a polite young lady, and you would be?"

Snapping my head up I answered Teuchi-san.

"My name is Uzumaki Menma, it's very nice to make your acquaintance," now I knew my cheeks were just as red as the crimson mop I have on the top of my head.

With that Teuchi-san and Ayame-san got back to cooking and soon our respective ramens were placed in front of us. It was freaking DELICIOUS! I normally was not one to gobble my food like a starved animal (Naruto) but it was super yummy.

"WOW! This is super good old man Teuchi!" Naruto spared those words between giant bites. I was too consumed by my ramen to properly beat Naruto over the head for his disrespect, but by the chuckle and thank you Teuchi-san didn't seem to mind. Once we were nearing the bottom of our bowls I heard the Academy bell, signaling the end of the lunch period. Quickly finishing I reached into my pocket and pulled out the allotted amount. Stretching my hand out, I was surprised to have two large, calloused hands wrap around my smaller one. Glancing up I was met with Teuchi-san's smiling face.

"No need, this one is on the house," was all he said as he pulled his hands away.

"Bu-"

"No 'buts', consider it my appreciation for having the pleasure of serving a future Hokage."

I was about to dispute, but I heard the bell signal again, and I truly did not want to deal with another ranting form our new sensei. Jumping off the stool I grabbed the back of Naru's t-shirt and started dragging him in the direction of the Academy, only being able to throw back a 'thank you'.

Sprinting all the way back we made it just in time, and just like last time I didn't spare my classmates a glance, went back to my desk and put my head down to sleep again.

Drifting to the sound of Naru's ramen rambling I felt very warm.

Warmer than I have been for a very long time

* * *

Once the Academy ended our sensei insisted either Naruto or I stayed behind to get the papers we missed on the first day. So I told Naruto to go ahead and head back to the apartment.

In the office sensei huffed on about procedures we missed and the fact that I missed kunoichi class sign up and that I needed to do the immediately. Apparently it was a requirement for female ninja to graduate.

Once that was done I was finally able to head home. I was really irritated to see that the sun was already setting, I needed to make it home fast before it set.

Walking past the front gate I was suddenly slammed into. Not getting my footing I quickly became acquainted with the ground and all the papers in my hands went everywhere.

"Nii-chan!" was the high pitched voice that met my ears. Pushing my face up, I blew several pieces of my red hair out of my face so I could get a good look at the bastard who pushed me over.

"Sasuke! You have to say you're sorry when you push someone over," was the quiet, but stern voice that followed. My eyes finally focused on the back of a dark blue, high collared shirt with a weird design that sort of looked like a buoy. The next thing that filled my vision was a hand.

Getting to my knees, my eyes followed their way up the offered hand to the owner's face. It was a young boy, maybe Ayame-san's age. He was very pretty. Long black hair pulled back, pale skin, and dark eyes with lines set underneath them. A small, apologetic smile adorned his lips.

"Don't get near her nii-chan!" yelled the younger boy, about my bodies' age, making his way towards us, "she's one of those demon twins!"

Turning my uninterested half lidded stare to the boy I finally got a good look at my 'attacker'. Like the adolescent boy that still had his hand offered this boy had pale skin and deep set black eyes, unlike the other boy his hair was a deep blue that was spiked up into a style the resembled the ass of a duck.

"Sasuke, enough, anymore insults and you will disgrace the main house," was his calm reply, his eyes never leaving me. The boy's face automatically fell into one of dismay. Slowly looking back at the older boy I made sure to make eye contact as a slapped his out stretched hand away. Not even blinking as the smacking sound took up the empty silence. Our eyes were still looking into one another, no facial expression shown on either of our faces. In my peripheral vision I caught a glance of the open mouth gape face of the younger boy 'Sasuke'.

"I don't need or want your assistance," keeping my half hooded, sapphire eyes on his clam ebony ones, "take your otouto and get out of my sight"

"Itachi-niichan!" another high pitched squeal from Sasuke. So, his name was Itachi, how pecurlar. My cold, monotone attitude did not deter this Itachi because all he did was begin picking up my papers at an unbelievable speed, by the time I had made my way up and dusted myself off he offered me all my papers in a neat pile.

Grabbing the pile from his hand I turned to leave when the Sasuke boy planted himself right in front of me, chest puffed out.

"Apologize and thank Itachi-niichan!" I lifted my eyes to glare directly into his, but something happened. There was a deep hum in the back of head and my tongue was going numb, then in an instant I was hit with the images.

_Deep red eyes, three black spots_

_Blood, bodies everywhere_

_Itachi standing over all of them_

"_Foolish otouto"_

_The man in the mask and the other man, both with the red eyes_

_Hate, more hate_

_Revenge _

_Betrayalbetrayalbetrayalbetrayalbetrayalbetrayalbetrayalbetrayalbetrayalbetrayalbetrayalbetrayalbetrayal_

_Chirping birds, lightning_

_Snakes_

_Darkness_

_Betrayal _

I sucked in a deep breath before I just slammed passed the boy, ignoring his screams of indignation. Sprinting as fast as my feet could carry me, the world became a blur. All I could do was keep running. My breath coming in in short gasp.

I just kept running, until I ran into someone.

"Hey!" came the girly scream of the person a bulldozed down.

Quickly glancing around I was met with the sight of a steaming platinum blonde with teal eyes and a sniffling pinkett with sage colored eyes. Not giving them more than a appraising once over I continued my sprinting.

"Hey! Come back here weirdo!"

I didn't care and I didn't stop until I reached the apartment, where I slung the papers I had in my vice like grip across said apartment. Running past a concerned Naruto I ran into our room and threw myself under our cover and didn't come out, not even for Naru's worried questioning.

That boy was going to hurt us like no one will ever be able to achieve. He's going to crush our hope and seek the darkness that makes human the evil beings they were. Not even trying to remember Teuchi-san's smile could calm my beating heart and churning stomach. Then I heard Shinigami's gruff words in the back of my mind.

"**Damned cursed Uchiha"**

And for once I had to agree with him

Nothing good would come from that family

* * *

(OTHER)

Itachi only wanted to help the girl. Sasuke had the typical Uchiha Pride, never seeing that he had done something wrong, but when he called the girl a demon it hit him. This was one of the twins he would soon be in charge of watching over. He had recently passed his ANBU test and was to be put on a parole of sorts, and as such was given the 'easy' task of watching the five year old infamous "Twin Demons of Konoha". Little did he know he would be meeting one face to face.

She was a very pretty girl. Long crimson hair flowed down her shoulders, a small slightly tanned face with almost unnoticeable whisker marks. But what really caught his attention was her eyes. They were obviously eyes that were much too big for her small face, but looking at her he had the inclination to believe that they would always be too big, and it seemed that she knew because she kept them half lidded as to not frighten anyone. They were a beautiful sapphire, but that's not what got to him, it was the intelligence. Uchiha were notorious for being geniuses, that true, even himself being proclaimed one of the brightest of the Uchiha clan, but this was different.

They weren't just intelligence, but experience behind those large eyes. The sort of dead look that comes from hard times and seeing things that no young child could even fathom. He knew that they had a rough upbringing, but he didn't believe it to be that scarring, they were precious to the Third Hokage after all. He couldn't put his figure on it, but he knew the look in her eyes were all wrong, and it didn't add up, but before he could do anything she was already turning away to leave when Sasuke blocked her path.

The next thing he knew the young girl let out a gasp and she was off, knocking Sasuke over in the process. In only a few seconds she was out of sight.

"What the heck!" was the heated cry he heard from his little otouto.

"You deserve at least that Sasuke," a mischievous crooked smile made its way onto Itachi's face, "you were the one to knock her down first, then called her a demon, otouto"

"Her eyes got so big Itachi-niichan!"

Itachi looked down to see Sasuke looking after the crimson haired girl. An amusing idea popping into his mind.

"She's quite pretty isn't she Sasuke?" his otuoto's head snapping up. Cheeks lighting up with bright blush. Itachi was a bit surprise to believe a little crush to be true as his otouto spurted out a denial that sounded quite unbelievable to his ears.

Letting a gentle smile settle on his face he simply steered Sasuke in the direction of the compound.

He couldn't be late to the clan meeting tonight

* * *

A/N Sorry it's kind of late, I was on vacation. They haven't quite met the whole Konoha Rookies, but hey, I tried. Lol.

I'll try to get another chapter in, but I'm starting college soon so these update will definitely slow down a bit, but please keep believing in me!

Please leave critiques, ideas, love, anything in the review section thanks!

P.S we will be meeting the infamous _him_ soon so be prepared for some sad flash backs and serious adult like themes in the next chapter!

Baibai!


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